Mental Health Round Table Summary

May 4, 2018

On May 2nd 2018 I hosted a Mental Health Round Table on Adverse Childhood Experiences and Suicide Prevention. This event convened mental health researchers and service providers from across Canada to exchange best practices and provide a dialogue with parliamentarians on how to move the needle on this pressing issue. To keep you informed of my work to improve mental health in our community and accross Canada here is a summary of the key findings of the day and of the presentations provided throughout the day. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the wonderful speakers, attendees, Members of Parliament, and Senators who all made this day a success.

Summary of Findings:

Measuring outcomes versus activities.

Measures must be developed and integrated to inform whether people are getting better as a result of the Federal investment in Mental Health.

Clear lead/connector in federal government for mental health.

All orders of government must take a whole of government approach to mental health where they promote cross department collaboration to improve mental health (eg: feds to link jurisdictions over health promotion, housing/social services, defence/veterans, public safety, etc to building whole of government mental health strategy).

Collaborative whole of community approach is needed to engage and support youth.

Silos must be torn down and front line services must be easier to navigate and access.

Ensure polices are youth focused and designed.

Policy design sould be guided by youth with aim to empower them through robust engagement, leadership realization, and resilience building.

Summary & Slide Decks of Speakers:

Moderator of the day. Provided insightful and thought provoking comments.

Dr Ian Manion, Phd, C.Psych, The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

Cost of untreated ACEs become problematic and costly as the individual matures. It costs far less for ACEs to be prevented or addressed earlier than to treat ongoing mental health issues that result from ACEs.

70% of adult mental illness begins in adolescence, 50% begins before the age of 14.

A link to frayme.ca for youth integrated health care.

Youth are leaders right now not the leaders of tomorrow.

Youth need to be engaged in their health care and empowered to be resilient (it's ok for them to learn to fail).

Dr Kim Corace, Phd, C.Psych, Substance Use and Concurent Disorders Program at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

Youth 5 times more likely than adults to report harm from substance use than adults.

Average age of substance use initiation is 14 years old.

Alcohol, cannabis, binge drinking, and opioids are all higher rates of use for youth than smoking. Shows evidence based education campaigns work.

Concurrent disorders are the norm: people who use drugs usually have mental health issues and people who have mental health issues usually use drugs. The balance of treatment for mental health and substance use is key for preventing suicide.

Youth who had ACEs are 7 times more likely to have a alcohol problem 10 times more likely to inject drugs 12 times more likely to commit suicide.

Addressing gaps in care - RAAC is a great model that works in Ottawa. The regional opioid prevention team is a good model to look at.